Welcome to a Well-Seasoned Life. Life is too short to waste any time eating bland food. I'm living a meaningful life while cooking up Southern comfort food, both seasoned with a sense of humor. ~Kim McCallie

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Cookbook Review: "The Homesick Texan Cookbook"

The Homesick Texan Cookbook

by Lisa Fain

Hyperion Publishing

I've been fortunate in that I've never known the pain of homesickness. I've lived in the same county all my life which has its own advantages and disadvantages. But, I can only imagine that if I did leave my home here in Georgia and moved to New York City like Lisa Fain did, that I, too, would miss the comforts of my Southern food more than anything else.

And, because of her longing for the taste of her home state, Fain began her blog Homesick Texan in 2006 to share with others the recipes she prepared that helped her to feel a little closer to home. The cookbook is a love letter to the Texan cuisine. And, in reading it, we are brought home even if it's to a home we've never known.

The Tex-Mex theme is prominent throughout the cookbook with a little Southern-style recipes thrown in along the way.

Stock up on your peppers before you get started with these recipes. You'll want to get started making jalapeno relish, tomatillo jalapeno jam, or one of several salsa recipes. Then, for breakfast, you can whip up some huevos rancheros or migas. The Tex-Mex section of the cookbook is filled with mouth-watering recipes for enchiladas, tacos, fajitas, flautas, chalupas, gorditas - anything you can imagine really. Finish your meal with sopapillas, arroz con leche, pumpkin empanadas, chocoflan, or the classic, coconut tres leches cake.

And, could you even write a cookbook on Texas cuisine without including several version of chili? I didn't think so. You're sure to find at least one you'll want to try.

The Stats: This cookbook is a dense, heavy book with 358 pages, many of which are filled with color full-page photos of the recipes.

The Homesick Texan is a good investment for your cookbook library if you're like me and are a huge fan of Tex-Mex cuisine and would like to learn to cook more of these types of dishes at home. There is a strong bridge between the Tex-Mex and traditional, Southern comfort recipes that makes this cookbook the perfect way to expand your cooking repertoire.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided me with a copy of this cookbook but the opinion expressed here is my own.